Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Indy Missouri

Hello hello!!!!

Ahhh I cannot believe I'm actually here in Independence Missouri! It is so so so green, but a lot of my area is really different, haha! I've already had so many amazing spiritual experiences, it's the best thing ever.

Sister Conrow, Sister and President Van Comen

On the plane ride here I sat next to a lady who wasn't a member.. Well we had 3 hours to chat... we ended up talking a lot about religion and she was super open to listening to me, it was sweet. She told me that she knew I had a very sweet heart and enjoyed what I had to say... long story short, I gave her a Book of Mormon and asked her to pray before, and after she read it to know if it was true.

Then I told her I would call her when I got to Independence and that she should come visit me in the visitors center (not knowing if I'd even be transferred there).. but get this!!!! Elder Hollands son, thats right, his son, was sitting behind me the whole plane ride with his family!!!!!!!!!! He came up to me after I got off the plane and was all... that was textbook work Sister, you'll do amazing out there and shook my hand.

Then when we met the pres and his wife, his son went up to president Van Comen, shook his hand and looked at me and said, "You've got yourself a pretty fine group of missionaries here!"

Well... i didn't know who this guy was until after we left the airport and some of the Elders were all, "Sister, that was Elder Holland's son!" It was insane. I was like "Whaaaaa??!! That was Elder Hollands son??" hahah it was soooo awesome.

K so, the first day in the mission field was intense... I was slightly freaking out and a little nervous of the road ahead haha..but now i'm adjusting and doing awesome... we already have a baptism lined up with this lady Tonya. she's so amazing and has such a strong testimony. She's a single mom and has no where to live with no job and no money, but the faith of a warrior. she is such an example to me. I met her my first day out... it was like holy cow, welcome to the reality of the world.

My comp is Sister Loo, she came out english speaking but got switched to spanish, so I'm with an hermana! haha. She is actually from St. George! She's hawaiin and super full of life. The second i met her she ran up to me and gave me the biggest hug, i thought i was gonna die. haha. But she's so awesome, so non-judgemental and just loves everyone. She's really teaching me a lot about missionary work. She went to snow canyon high school and we actually know some of the same people. It's crazy how the Lord works.

My area right now is Independence, I work in the visitors center half the day and proselyte the other half of the day. My entire ward is all polynesian (It's the exact same ward that Thomas went to when he was here here last summer, and I ate with the Tali family who actually remembers him and really enjoyed his comments in priesthood! Cool huh, what are the odds)... I certainly got what I asked for when I said I wanted a foreign place, and another language. It's such a different culture, it definitely pushes me out of my comfort zone.

Everyone hugs you and kisses your cheek like there's no tomorrow. We had a luau my first saturday and they had a million people there and so many awesome dances. It reminded me of Sheri and our ward in Montana and how we would always have the best Luau's.

The ward here is super involved and we were able to meet so many non-members. A lot of people who were from Mississippi and lost everything in the flood there and are living in the shelter here in Independence. They are all so humble and just willing, but yet cheerful. They have already taught me so much about humility and patience. The work here is AMAZING. Its awesome.

So... I never thought I'd say this, but I LOVE the Visitors Center. I've already done tours by myself. The biggest goal there is to get referrals to call... I met with the visitors center president, Elder Adams and he said to set a goal of referrals... he said like 2 a week is probably a lot... well that day I told him I'd like to get 10 a week, and he said I was being too optimistic... haha well I ended up taking one tour that day and just within that one tour I got 2 referrals... hahaha. Afterwards, he came up to me, shook my hand and said, I guess we better up that goal for you. haha. It was cool..

K so another awesome experience.. At church on sunday we were waiting out in the foyer because a non-member family was supposed to be coming to church..Well they never showed up, but just before we went back into sacrament, this guy was walking across the street and walked into the chapel. He was super scary looking and way scruffy.

I'm not going to lie, it freaked me out, but my comp was stellar and just shook the guys hand and invited him to sacrament. He was all, "in these clothes?" and she was all.. ya why not?! And so he sat down, and stayed for the entire churce service.. unfortunately I was super super sick that day, so we went home a little early.. but before we left we talked to him after sacrament and he straight up said, "I want to be a member of your church, when can I get baptized? This is what I've been missing in my life."

It was almost like a dream and just too good to be true.. He is seriously the golden investigator. We taught him the first lesson yesterday, got him a copy of the book of mormon, told him to pray, read it, and committed him to baptism.. He smokes though, but thats ok, he wants this bad, so I know he'll be able to do it. I'm so stoked for him. Also, yesterday, we taught this mother and daughter who live in the ghetto and smoke like a million packs a day. But they straight up told us, we want to be baptized, so we're going to quit smoking, and they're coming to church with us on Sunday. I even explained to them how I knew they could quit because my own Dad did it! Thanks Dad for being an example here!

There is just so much work here it's insane. The Lord has definitely been working on these people, humbling them, and preparing them to hear about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ that I know is true without a doubt in my heart.

Gosh, I could go on and on forever.

I just cannot believe the experiences I'm already having. Even though I feel very far from home and for once in my life somewhat homesick, this is His work and I am grateful to where he has placed me and already grateful for everyone I have been able to help since I've been here. I love being able to serve and uplift others!

Tell everyone they can write me, or email me, but letters are best because I have them with me :)

My address is just the mission home address because I live literally a minute away from it.

My address is:

517 West Walnut St

Independence, MO 64050!

I love all of you so so so much.

Thank you for all your love and support that you give me.

This is the Lord's work, and all he wants is for His children to be happy and to feel that peace in their life that they've been missing.

I love it, I love it, I love it.

Thanks fam for my bedding. It smelled super good and was so nice to have something from home to comfort me in this strange land! Be sure to send me lots of treats ;) only priority mail though ;)